Searching For A New Hobby

Greetings blog readers! How is everyone coping? The new year for me is one of a some transition. I gave up my volunteer commitments as they were becoming less fulfilling and feeling more like a job. I wanted more flexibility and freedom in my schedule. Additionally, there was a snafu regarding a lunch lady sub post where I thought I had the assignment, but it was given to someone else instead. After that aggravation, I decided to give up subbing as well. I felt like it was a sign, so now I'm a free agent with lots of time on my hands. This got me looking for a new hobby because, as of right now, rock painting is not calling to me as it once was 10 years ago. 

In the wee hours of the morning when I'm scrolling on my phone, I see lots of videos of various crafts and one caught my eye. It's called junk journaling and one niche in particular seemed interesting. Craft punches are used to create a "stamp shape," from a variety of packaging, junk mail, etc. Then the stamps are glued into a journal. I ordered my craft punches which took a while to receive. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I had amassed a pile of cardboard packaging and clippings ready to be punched. 

When they finally arrived, I punched out my chosen graphics. I had large and small sized stamps.

Then I used a glue stick to carefully place them into the journal which has a dotted grid to make alignment easier. 

It's a fun and mind calming activity. It also makes you look at everything before you throw it out like junk mail, tissue boxes, food boxes, etc. 

Then I learned about ATCs. They are Artist Trading Cards which measure 2.5" x 3.5", the same size as a baseball card. They can be traded or not. It's just a small expression of creativity which is right up my alley. I made a few with hearts since Valentine's Day was on everyone's mind. I also saw some crafts using the bottom of heavy duty aluminum foil pans and I made some hearts using an embossing technique. 

I aged this next one to look like it was some kind of relic.  

Another craft I always wanted to try was making a pine needle basket. A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to take a class with her and I jumped at the opportunity. Long leaf pines are around this area with pine needles that are 12-18" long. I had to gather some for the class, so I went to a park that had lots of these trees and gathered my needles.

              

This is how far I got after a 3 hour class.

I started working on it after I got home and after another 6 hours, I finished.

This was a very satisfying project and I want to learn more so I can try again and get better at it. I found it very interesting that I was completely taken over by this craft and I worked in total silence the whole time. There are videos on YouTube on how to do this if you're interested. 

Have you tried a new hobby or craft recently? What kind of things interest you?

Do You Know The Muffin Pan?

 Last week we were at Costco. The place is just massive and they sell so many good looking food items, but geez, a lot of it is pricey. One thing we really liked from past shopping trips were the spinach egg white bites. We almost bought a box, but they were $14.99. I decided instead to try making egg bites at home.

The only muffin pans I have are for larger size muffins. They're made by Bakers Secret so they're really old. Supposed to be nonstick. I remember the instructions said not to use cooking sprays on them because the propellant ruins the nonstick coating. So I used butter to coat the cups, figuring that would be fine. With cupcakes and muffins I usually use the paper liners, but I didn't for the egg bites. Big mistake!!

They looked great in the pan, but they were cemented in there and it took a lot of finessing to get them out. They were delicious, but I was left with a nightmare of a pan to clean. 

I soaked and scrubbed and I soaked again, I even tried scraping it with a plastic spoon. Eventually I gave up and tossed the pan. After much advice from my face book friends, I invested in a nice silicone muffin pan. I bought it from, you guessed it, Am@zon.

This morning, I tried again and to my delight, they came out perfect, albeit smaller because the pan is for standard size muffins/cupcakes. They rose beautifully in the oven, but of course as soon as you take them out, they fall.

One friend suggested putting the hot pan into a shallow pan of cold water to help the bites break away from the sides. I did that as a precaution, but I could already tell they were going pop out freely.

After about 5 minutes, I popped them out and there was no sticking. The instructions said not to use cooking sprays with propellant because it would damage the finish, so I didn't use anything and they still popped out effortlessly! 

I ate them with some fresh pineapple and berries and it was a delicious Sunday morning treat! 

I highly recommend the pan and it came in a nice box too.

When our daughter comes to visit this week, we are going to make these again and we'll each choose our own ingredients. It will be fun to experiment! 

New Year!

 Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends and readers! I didn't ring in the occasion in any special way. I just went to bed at my usual time knowing I'd probably wake up in the middle of the night hearing fireworks which is exactly what happened. We thought ahead and gave our dog Zoey a calming treat earlier in the evening so she was able to sleep through the night, thank goodness. 

I took down the Christmas decorations, but decided to leave the tree up and decorate it for Mardi Gras. I have been collecting masks every year from the dollar store and they ended up looking great on the tree along with some purple ribbon and decorations I had on hand. 

I wanted to keep something festive up because our daughter is coming to visit on a couple of weeks. We are really looking forward to seeing her. The visit will be very low key. We plan to just do some cozy activities like working on a jigsaw puzzle, making a fire, chatting, drinking warm beverages and eating snacks. We can't wait!

Meanwhile, on the first day of the year, we went to Gulf State Park and participated in the first walk of 2026. A lot of people showed up and it was a crystal clear day. 

When we got home, we ate some good luck foods which included lentil soup with sausage, cornbread and collard greens. 

I've been exercising every day in some shape or form. If it's not too cold or rainy, hubby and I take a 2 mile walk in the early AM before the sun comes up. If the weather is not cooperating, I do some step aerobics. Remember that from the 90's? I really enjoyed it, so I bought a step and found some videos online that I really like. If you're interested, check out Christina Dorner on YouTube. She is terrific!! I'm still holing my 10 pound weight loss, but losing that 11th pound is proving to be very difficult, so I need to up my exercise, because I really don't want to eat less than I already am at this point. 

On the 3rd day of the new year, I booked an appointment to get my hair cut. I found a salon that has a sensory safe room for people with anxiety, ADHD, autism, etc., or people like me that just don't like being on display while in the chair. I have very little hair on top, so to be exposed like that is very stressful for me. Hubby has been cutting my hair for the past couple of years, but when I found out about this private room option, I booked it. It was a good experience but the $60 price tag plus tip nearly killed me for just a simple trim. I figure I only get my hair cut about twice a year, so I sucked it up.

In the new year, I decided I would discontinue a lot of my volunteering as it was starting to feel like an overwhelming obligation and I felt a bit trapped. I gave notice at the senior center that I would no longer be helping to serve lunch after the end of the year. My last day was Dec 30th. I'm looking forward to feeling less rushed in my day and hopefully be able to participate in other things or take some interesting classes. My friend signed us up for making baskets out of pine needles and I'm really excited to learn that skill. 

I also want to start some seeds for my garden. I want lots of flowers that attract pollinators. We have a sago palm that has grown way too big, so we're going to take it down and replace it with things that have colorful flowers like zinnias and cornflowers. I can't wait until spring to get that started.

 

This is the spot where I want to plant flowers. 

Someone gave me this Indian Blanket flower plant and I love it. I hope it comes back bigger this year.

We went to Home Depot today and saw these pretty cacti. I took this photo and I thought it looked so pretty.

Wouldn't that make a great puzzle?

Happy New Year!